AISSR Lectures
Fundamental questions for the social sciences. Organized by the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR).
Upcoming lectures 2025-2026
Overhyping AI: Assessing the Damage
15 May 2025 | 15.30 - 17:00 | CREA Music Hall
In this AISSR double lecture, Roanne van Voorst (AISSR Futures-Anthropologist) and Daniel Mügge (AISSR Political Scientist) look beyond the hype.
What is left of AI's promises once real people with real jobs begin using it? How plausible are the stories of AI-driven societal progress once we peek behind the veneer of glossy policy announcements?
17 October 2025 | 14.30 - 16:00 | CREA Music Hall
On Friday 17 October November, the AISSR welcomes sociologist Julia Go, Professor at the University of Chicago. His research delves into the social dynamics of empires and colonialism, postcolonial and decolonial thought, global historical sociology, and the epistemology of social theory.
More info to be announced.
6 November 2025 | 15.30 - 17:00 | tba
On Thursday 6 November, the AISSR welcomes Renée DiResta (McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown Univeristy), expert on disinformation, spam, scams, and trolls. She studies online manipulation, and what we can do about it.
More info to be announced.
20 November | 12:00 - 18:00 | tba
The Harvest Day is the AISSR’s landmark event where social scientists and relevant organizations come together to discuss the 'harvest' of their research.
More info and registration to be announced.
The Super-Rich and Democracy
5 February 2026 | 15.30 - 17:00 | CREA Theatre Hall
Marlies Glasius is Professor in International Relations at the AISSR department of Political Science of the University of Amsterdam.
Ward Berenschot is Professor by Special Appoitment in Comparative Political Anthropology at the AISSR Anthropology department of the University of Amsterdam.
More info and registration to be announced.
The Future of Affect in the Age of AI
16 April 2026 | 15.30 - 17:00 | CREA
Arjun Appadurai is a prominent contemporary anthropologist known for his work on globalization, modernity, and the cultural dimensions of economic and social change. Born in India in 1949, he has held academic positions at various prestigious institutions, including Yale, the University of Chicago, and New York University.
More info and registration to be announced.
Previous AISSR Lectures
Race to the Future? Reimagining the Default Settings of Technology & Society
21 March 2025
Ruha Benjamin is Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, specializing in the relationship between innovation and inequity, knowledge and power, race and citizenship, health and justice.
Discretionary power: Secrecy and transparency in the technologies of ‘seeing’ urbanisation
30 January 2025
Ayona Datta looked at how power and decision-making are changing in the age of digital governance. When governments use digital tools to reduce corruption and remove human judgment, do they actually create new forms of secrecy and control?
Ayona Datta is Professor of Human Geography at the University College London.
21 November 2024
The Harvest Day is the AISSR’s landmark event where social scientists and relevant organizations come together to discuss the 'harvest' of their research.
This year’s Harvest Day explored the promises and perils of global social science with three keynote speakers — professors Ursula Daxecker, Joyeeta Gupta, and Francio Guadeloupe — who discussed their research in light of these questions.
Emotions & Politics: Democratization or Democratic Risk?
12 September 2024
On 12 September, the AISSR kicked off with a new season of AISSR Lectures, after looking back on a successful 2023-2024 series. In a double lecture, Agneta Fischer & Jan Willem Duyvendak talked from a psychological and sociological perspective about Emotions & Politics: Democratization or a Democratic Risk?
The Data Revolution and the Study of Social Inequality: Promise and Perils
20 June 2024
The social sciences are experiencing a data revolution, with unprecedented access to vast digital records from governments and private companies. How will this data revolution impact the study of social inequality?
Materialities in social science research: two lectures, one conversation
21 March 2024
Since they arose, social sciences liberated themselves from natural sciences, allowing for unique research. However, this focus has hindered understanding of the material aspects of social life.
Professors Maria Kaika and Annemarie Mol discussed their solutions in this double lecture and aftertalk.
Low Confidence in a High Trust Society | The Role of Inequality and Polarization
15 February 2024
Karen van Oudenhoven is the director of the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP).
In her lecture she focused on how heightened structural inequality is creating divisions in society. Leading to affective polarization that could jeopardize the status of Dutch society as a high trust community.
Artificial Intelligence. New frontiers, Old Problems
12 January 2024
In this AISSR Lecture, 'sociologist of technology' and UvA honorary doctorate Zeynep Tufekci reflected on 'Artificial Intelligence. New frontiers, Old Problems' with lessons from the internet, digital technology & mobile revolution.
The War in Gaza: History, Context, Dynamics
14 December 2023
During this AISSR Lecture, Farid Boussaid and Erella Grassiani each examined the history, context, and dynamics of the war in Gaza by drawing upon their expertise and research.
The full video of this AISSR Lecture is now online.
Looking back. Looking forward
16 November 2023
This year was our 10th AISSR Harvest Day. A special milestone in which we looked back and forward to the social sciences and the role of our Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research.
We started this special day with three special AISSR lectures:
- Philomena Essed | From Everyday Racism to Responsible Risk Taking in Higher Education.
- Eelke Heemskerk | The Future of Social Science. Navigating the Digital Age's Transformative Potential.
- Maarten Hajer | Utopianism and the Drama of Environmental Politics.
Sovereignty in the Anthropocene
19 October 2023
The second AISSR Lecture was given by Harvard Professor Diane E. Davis: Sovereignty in the Anthropocene.
Davis delved into the intersections of urban sovereignty, ecological challenges, and the evolving needs of the 21st century.
The full video of this AISSR Lecture is now online.
The past, present and future of computational social science
21 September 2023
The first AISSR Lecture was given by Chris Bail, one of the foremost computational social scientists . Bail traced the remarkable journey of Computational Social Science: from its origins on the fringes to its current status as a mainstream field in universities worldwide.